Bone grafts are commonly used in a wide variety of orthopedic procedures. In particular, bone graft is often used to aid the healing of bony defects. Such defects may arise from trauma or a pathologic condition, or the surgeon may require graft to support bony healing subsequent to a surgical procedure such as joint fusion or arthrodesis.
Autogenous bone, also called autograft, is generally considered to be the “gold standard” in terms of biological performance. Autograft is often collected from the patient's hip. However, collecting autograft from the patient's hip is associated with a significant incidence of post-operative pain and the potential for additional medical complications. In addition, the volume of autograft material available from the patient's hip may not be sufficient for the graft procedure.
Specially processed donor bone, or allograft, is frequently used as an alternative to autograft. Allograft, such as morselized granules of cortical and cancellous bone, provides an osteoconductive material with some compressive strength, which can be readily incorporated via the same healing process that occurs with autogenous bone. Osteoconductivity refers to a material's ability to provide a suitable structure or scaffold for the growth of new blood vessels and, ultimately, bone.
Allograft which is demineralized during its processing is commonly referred to as DBM, or demineralized bone matrix. DBM is an osteoinductive material, meaning that it can lead to the formation of bone by recruiting mesenchymal stem cells from the surrounding tissues, and these cells can ultimately differentiate into new bone.
The Optimesh® System (patented by Spineology, Inc. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,549,679; 5,571,189, 6,383,188; 6,620,162; 6,620,169 and U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/909,667 and 10/440,036 all of which are incorporated herein by reference) includes various tools and a porous container used to contain bone graft or other fill material when fusing intervertebral spaces and treating defects in intravertebral bones or other bones. While the current Optimesh® System utilizes the concept of fill material extrusion, it would be advantageous to capitalize on the characteristics of both the osteoconductive and osteoinductive materials.